ABSTRACT
This comment was from Susan, who works as an administrator for a women’s centre in a Protestant area. It expresses the politics of avoidance dominating many organisations in Northern Ireland which in other contexts would be considered unambiguously political. It reflects the difficulties of raising a women’s agenda in a situation where politics is defined around the constitutional issue. The phrase is an accommodation to the sectarian divide, a way of allowing women to work together on questions where they have a common interest. Women, like men, are divided by community loyalties. Most vote for and support, with varying degrees of criticism, parties or groupings representing either unionist or nationalist politics. But many women argue that they can cross the sectarian divide, and put aside their opinions on other issues, in a way that is impossible for men. As Joyce McCartan put it: ‘We can say “let’s forget our differences” and get on with it.’2
